st: RE: macros, matrices, and memory space

No one seems to have commented on this, probably because it is difficult
to know what to say. All I can say is that I suspect that there is a
specific explanation for your problem, but quite what it is has got to
remain a mystery until you can post specific reproducible code that
exhibits the problem.
Nick
n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk
Gabi Huiber
Does anybody know if macros and matrices compete for the same limited
memory space?
I have a series of hierarchical do-files that process a bunch of
weekly files in 28 separate geographical locations. Along the way, my
do-files declare a lot of macros, both local and global. At the same
time, there's a list of 28 matrices being declared in the very first
do-file. They are simple timelines. Each matrix has one column and a
number of rows equal to the number of existing weekly files in that
location. Each cell has that weekly file's date of arrival.
So this chain of do-files will run through the fifth location-timeline
matrix, and then it will claim that the sixth does not exist. But they
all do exist, because I declare them ahead of time and have the
do-file "matrix list" them all before any other do-file is called.
Somehow Stata records them, then forgets them. If I simply have it
skip the first five locations, it will run through the rest without
any snags.
That's why I suspect this memory space problem. Am I looking in the
wrong place?
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